Power and Malignant Narcissism In Today's COG Leadership

 

An LCG source sent me a link to an article on Frank Viola's Beyond Evangelical blog, The Danger of God's Power.

Where Power Is Safe 

 

God never gives His power to you or me to wield as individuals. He gives His power to the bride of Christ, the ekklesia. 

 

Whenever I see men wielding God’s power as isolated individuals, I immediately see imminent destruction. The power of God on an individual will destroy him. It’s safe only when that person remains properly connected to other members of the body. 

 

In every case I can think of when an individual abused God’s power, that person was disconnected from the body of Christ. Yes, they may have attended church services. In fact, they may have even regularly preached in them. 

 

But that’s not the same as having a living experience of the body of Christ, where close-knit relationships are forged and members temper one another. 

 

I’m also impressed that Jesus didn’t try to gain fame through His signs and wonders. Have you ever noticed that the Lord never made a production out of healing the sick? 

 

When Jesus performed a healing, He virtually always told that person not to tell anyone.[iii] We see a certain modesty in Christ whenever He exercised His power. 

 

God’s power is available to accomplish His will, but it’s so easy to corrupt, pervert, and make cheap and common. 

 

But wait, it gets even worse. 

 

Malignant Narcissism 

 

Spiritual power causes some people, perhaps many, to believe they can handle everything on their own. These befuddled souls are marked by titanic arrogance mixed with paranoia. They are erratic narcissists and serial liars who have an unwarranted confidence in their own sagacity. 

 

They are rude, crude, insensitive, judgmental, and as crooked as a dog’s hind leg. 

 

They are also prone to violate Proverbs 27:2, regularly lathering themselves up with praise.
In some twisted way, they believe they have a right to such self-indulgence because they carry God’s anointing. 

 

The same thing happens when individuals acquire political power. Many of them turn into insufferable human beings. Privilege has a toxic influence on most humans. 

 

How ironic that those gifted with God’s power slip into the same temptations. Unfortunately, malignant narcissism abounds in both the political and religious worlds. 

 

But a major fall awaits such people. They will move from a powerful place to a place of deep weakness. This is God’s generous grace, because power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9), and only the weak and poor in spirit can heal the broken and needy. 

 

It was said of Jesus that He would not break a bruised reed nor snuff out a smoldering wick (Matthew 12:20). In the ancient world, smoldering wicks signaled that they should be extinguished and replaced with new ones. 

 

Bruised reeds couldn’t measure accurately, so they too had to be discarded and replaced.
Strikingly, Jesus didn’t discard or replace the damaged, the weak, and the broken. 

 

He healed them. 

 

As the One gentle and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29), our Lord consistently helped the least, the lost, and the lowest. 

 

By contrast, those who take God’s power for granted not only discard the broken; they run over them. 

 

With weakness comes the power to heal the weak. Without weakness, God’s power becomes a dangerous thing. So be careful.

Read the complete article here: The Danger of God’s Power by Frank Viola